Parking meter control system



Oct. '27, 1953 J. A. T. ELLISON PARKING METgiR CONTROL SYSTEM 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 3, 1950 INVENTOR.

doH/v AI ELLISON Oct. 27, 1953 J. A. T. ELLISON 8 PARKING METER CONTROL SYSTEM Filed Feb. 5, 1950 .3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Y INVENTOR. JOHN A .T. ELLISON Oct. 27, 1953 J. A. T. ELLISON ,6

PARKING METER CONTROL SYSTEM Filed Feb. 3, 1950 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 III [III]! 1 INVENTOR. JOHN AT. ELLISON Patented Oct. 27, 1953 UN [TED S TATE S PATEN T F 1 C-E PARKING METER CON-TROLiSYS'EEM TIIohn- A; T..Ellison, Seattla Wa sh.

"iapplioation Febi-uary 3, 1950, Serlal' No51'42,I49

(clalgi-el.)

fi'claims.

:1 aThis :invention relates to :a-control for coinoperated parking meters, and purposes to tprevent an automobile; parked in awmeterggoverned parking l zone from legally :using the rzone for more .than a, single ;,parking 1 periodzirrespective of lhow many coins. may have been .inserted in the meter. :The r invention includes mechanism for automatically 'nullifying .any. residue :of time remaining on the parking meter when-the parked automobile is driven: from the zone, and :in this respect utilizes structure present in .my co-pending United States.-application,:Serial No.- 130,026,

filed. November 29. 1949.

Another zobject of my invention is-to provide a'zcontrol system that can'be utiliZedwith-almost :any known type of. parkingmeter without necessitating material alteration of the latter.

a A: further. object of my invention is to provide 1a control systemwhich, when usedin av parking meterwhose timehand is 'reset .by "a spring- =loaded driving .mechanism, will not materially decrease the :numberof resets obtainable from .each manual winding of the mechanism.

ipositioniby a vehicle of either polarity parked adjacent the switch, and which is. dependable in operation, does not are at the poles-andisof simple and economical construction.

:My invention also hasrasan object a battery pack .for .use in .my control system whichis water-proof, can .be easily installed and replaced and which is-likewise ofsimple and economical construction.

With the above and other. still more particular objects and advantages in view and which, with .the: foregoing, will appear and-be understood in the course of the following description .and claims, the invention consists in the novel/constructionand in the adaptation..and combination .of parts hereinafter described and claimed.

.In the drawings:

Figures 1, 2 and 3 .aresomewhat schematic views, largely in elevation but; artly: in. section,

illustrating conventionalltypeof coin-operated parkinga meter equipped with improvements. produced ine accordance with-the; preferred embodiment of'thapresent invention, the'three views L'eachaincorporatingwazwiflng diagram in which is :contained a'normally :closed magnetic switch openedoby: thevcircumstance 0f4 a vehicle parking sinitheizonerrelated to themeter. The three views are distinguished in that Fig. 1 portrays the parts 0f the improved meter .in' the positions :which they occupy whenna vehicle xisrlegally parked in the zone-an-d.:has-nsedonlyv a portion of vthe purchased;tparkingvtime. .Fig, 2 shows the position of the :parts when thepurchasedparking time has: expired and illustrates-the manner whichl-a second coin introduced while. the vehicle still; remainsintthe parkingtzone, is caused to hang up. Fig. 3'showstheaposition-of the parts when the in mixing .zone .is unoccupied.

Fig-e4- is a fragmentary enlarged viewdetailing the sectoral plate shown inithe, preceding views.

:Fig. .5 is -.a fragmentary transverse vertical sectional view taken-to an enlarged. scale on line 55 of' Fig. 13.

Figxdis a fragmentary vertical sectional view confinedto. an illustration of the base structure for-the meter; and .essentiallydetailing the battery pack ..from .which Z'the electric circuit v'ifor ,the "meter derives I. its energy.

,Fig. 7 I is canhorizontalsectional view on'line 1 -.'1-of.Fig.-;6.

8.15. a vertical sectional view illustrating aiorm or magnetic switch whichlfindto be especially suitableifor carrying the invention into practice; and

1Fig..'9i isa'. horizontal sectional view on lineB-B .ofIFa'gI'B.

T'I haveillustratedmy'invention as applied to aconvefntional parking meter and'hence'I'will first expnm those .p-arts of the "meter which .are old i in the art and then "will elaborate on "the improvements whichliapply'thereto.

Thetime'hand lll'is essentiallrthe minute hand'o'f'aclock indicatingtheamount of allowa'bleiparking time remaining f or a'motorist whose car is parked in the'related parking "zone. "An arcuate time dial i2 is portrayed and for'purp'oses or example this dial' is showntas having minute readings" from Oto' 60 "on its! ace. The hand It isfjournaled on a stationary "shaft l l "and after being reset, in a "manner to be "hereinafter described, opposite the "'60 minute reading "on the time dial moves counter-clockwise with the. passage oftimeto'wardthe zero reading. "A spring- .driven -clock 'mechanismsupplies the power for this movement, the. powefbeing transmitted by friction to a hollow 'shaft to which'the handis secured, such mechanism and T hollow "shaft not being illustrated.

The time dial" I 2 isfreely pivoted for reciprocal movement-abouts, pin 13 secured to-the housing and such time dial is held at the upper limit of its said reciprocal travel, as shown in Fig. 1, by a lug 2| struck from the material adjacent the free end of the hand 10, such lug resting beneath and supporting a marginal flange 22 which extends along the bottom edge of the dial. It will be noted that this flange is developed as the arc of a circle made concentric to shaft H and runs coextensive with the numerals to 60 on the dial face so that the dial cannot drop downwardly about its pivot pin while parking time remains.

An intermediate lug 23 is provided on the hand in a position slightly below and laterally offset from the lug 2|, and as a functioning complement of this lug the dial presents a short flange 24 along its lower edge extending from the innerend limit of the flange 22 to the approximate root-end limit of the dial. This short flange is offset below the arcuate flange 22 an amount corresponding to the distance between the lugs 2| and 23 so that, as the lug 2| reaches the inner end of the marginal flange 22 the intermediate lug 23 engages beneath the short flange 24 and continues to support the dial [2 after the lug 2| clears the flange 22. As the hand then continues to move in a counter-clockwise direction the travel of the lug 23 along the flange 24 permits the dial to drop slightly so that a red flag mounted at the top side thereof will be shifted into view from an otherwise concealed position offset from the view plate to designate that no parking time remains. The dropping of the dial is accomplished because the short flange 24 is not arcuate and is slightly offset from a tangent to the arcuate path of the lug 23.

A sector is freely journaled about the shaft I l and presents at the forward end of its arcuate edge an outwardly directed nob 21 for engaging the hand [0. The sector is driven via a linkage comprising a link 20, a bell crank I8, a link H, and a crank [6, by a spring-loaded mechanism acting on a shaft l4 to which the crank it is keyed, such mechanism being effective to rotate the shaft a score of revolutions before requiring rewinding. Directing attention to Fig. 8 it can be seen that as the crank I6 is rotated in a counter-clockwise direction, the link H will force the bell crank 18 in the same direction, causing the link 26 to drive the sector I5 in a clockwise direction. As the sector moves in such direction the nob 21 is brought into engagement with the respective side edge of the hand [0, and with further movement it pushes and resets the hand in the 60 minute position. When the hand is reset the link l! is in alinement with the shaft l4 so that further counter-clockwise rotation of the crank [6 causes the bell crank l8 and sector [5 to reverse directions and return to the original Fig. 3 position at the end of one revolution of the crank [6.

The edge of the bell crank is provided with a re-entrant opening 28. An arm 32 whose upper end is pivotally supported to the frame has formed upon its lower end a substantial foot, the toe element 35 of which closely fits in said opening. The pawl 3| is pivotally mounted on the outside face of this toe element 30 and has two oppositely extending arms, one of which projects through an opening 33 (Fig. 5) in a side wall 35 of the meter coin chute 34 when the toe 35 engages the opening 28 as shown in Figs. 1 to 3, and the other of which is held against a stop 36 by the force of the crank I8 acting on the upper edge of the toe 30. To reset the parking meter, the motorist inserts a coin in the mouth of the chute 34 and as the coin drops it strikes the pawl 31 causing it to turn in a clock-wise direction with respect to the arm 32, such movement releasing the pawl from engagement with the stop 36 and withdrawing it from the chute to permit the coin to continue its travel along the length of the chute. The bell crank I8 is then free to move counter-clockwise as before described and to simultaneously urge the arm 32 outwardly against the pressure of a spring 31 at its root end. The crank 16 then completes a revolution and effects the resetting of the hand Ii]. As the bell crank returns to its original position at the end of such revolution the toe 30 is urged into engagement with the opening 28 acting on the arm 32, and is locked in such position by the simultaneous engagement of the pawl 23! and stop 38.

The structure thus far explained is old in thc art and, lacking the present improvements, has the marked disadvantage that it permits a motorist to leave his car parked in a parking zone indefinitely as long as he keeps inserting coins in the meter. It should be here noted that it is not my intention to limit the scope of my invention to improvements which can only be directly applied to a parking meter identical or very similar to the one above described, the following embodiment of my invention being given by way of example only.

A plate member having a sectoral cam 4| and a hook-shaped arm 42 at diametrically opposite sides is freely journaled on the shaft l l by a hub 26. The said cam is slightly spaced outwardly from the hand II] to prevent frictional engagement with the outer faces of the hand and the link 29, as well as to clear the nob 21. The hooked arm 42 is rearwardly spaced from the cam 4! a slightly less amount by an offset 45. The side wall 35 of the coin chute presents an upper opening through which the bill 44 of the hook can pass. A spring 46 is anchored to the shaft ll at one end and takes a purchase by its other end against the leading edge of the hooks shank so as to spring-load the plate in a manner yieldingly urging the same to move in a counterclockwise direction.

A solenoid is secured to an insulating plate 5| which is in turn screwed to the meter head frame, the plate thus serving to insulate the solenoid from the meter proper. The body 54 of the solenoid is secured at one end to a vertical plate 52 and rests on a horizontal plate 53 which joins at one end to the vertical plate 52 slightly above the lower end of the latter. The free end of the horizontal plate is bent to form an upstanding ear 55 having its upper end bent slightly inward toward the coil 54. Such plate has a lateral slot adjacent the ear through which the vertical leg of an inverted L-shaped dog 50 is passed, such leg being pivotally secured to the plate at each end of the said slot by pins 56. The lower free end of the vertical dog leg extends below the horizontal plate in opposed relation to the lower end of the vertical plate 52, and between and to such lower ends a tensioned spring 58 is suspended serving to urge an upper portion of the leg against the upper end of the ear 55. The horizontal leg of the dog is directed outwardly toward the cam 41 and is such a length that its free end barely clears the arcuate edge of the cam when the dog is drawn against the core 6| of the relay when the solenoid is energized. The lower portion of the arcuate edge presents a V-shaped notch 48 which is engaged by the dog when the bill 44 is in the coin-chute blocking position as in "shank. Thus, as is apparent in Fig. 3,:a=s thenob '21 engages and pushes thehand t toward the 60 minute'end of the dial during thereset opertime has passed, another coin cannot travel the length of the chute to again-reset the hand until the 'dog is withdrawn from the notch by energizing the relay. It has also been-shown that -member 40 will automatically returnthe hand to zero.

bly receiving the neck portions and when received Fig. *4. :It willibe :noted' thatfwhemthemotchxis so positioned, its upper edge-* slopes upwardly ato -form. an acute: angle with" "the-plane :ofz the horizontal leg of the dog. The notchs lowerledgen is shorter than its upper edge aand slopescdownwardly. -When the dogxlenga'gesthe notch it serves to resist the spring- 46: and .henceiprevents counterclockwise movement of a the plate member 4B. The above described-shape of thenotchzis such that very little magnetic force is requiredrto s draw the dog from the notch.

The hand NY is furnished at its lower endwi'th an outwardly-extending return lug 49 which is engageable by the outside edge' 41 of thehooks ation, the lug 49 willengage thehooks shank and cause clockwise rotary movement'of t-he plate member 40 in opposition to the spring so that-when the hand reaches the 'minute setting the hook bill 44 will be reset in its chuteblocking position, the spring 46 will be tensioned, and the dog will be urged into the notch 48 by the spring 58 to lock the plate member'40. Looking to Fig. 1, it is apparent that when the dog is withdrawn from the notch, the spring-46 will cause counterclockwise rotary movement of the plate member 40, and if the hand is not already *at zero reading, the hook's shank will be brought into engagement with the lug 49 of the frictional- -1y driven hand and will thence push the hand to the zeroen'd of the dial whereinthe"pa'rts as- -sume the Fig; 3relationship.

"From the foregoing it'will be seen thatevery 2 time the hand'is reset'by the insertion of a coin in the coin-chute the hook bill 44 will be reset automatically in a chute-blocking position, where- 'in, as illustrated in Fig. 2, regardless of how much every time the relay is thus energized, the plate Therefore, I provide an electrical circuit, to be'now explained, which will automatically energize the relay when, and only'when, an

automobile is driven from the related parking zone, this circuit being similar'to that disclosed in my co-pending application afore noted. This circuit requires a switch which isautomatically bled. The container may be formed of plastic or other suitable material not susceptible'to mag- 'netic attraction. 'Emanating upwardly from the container floor are two "diametrically spaced identical poles 62 formed of copper or other electri- 'cally'conductive material. Such poles are necked down at the base so astoform abutment'shoulders 64, and have the necks threaded. The container floor 65has tapped openings for treadathe necks protrude slightly below'the floor: and arefitted with' nuts66 and 61. Whenthe unit is installed'for use, conventional wire leads are secured between the nuts. 'The toplof'each pole is provided with ashort cylindrical pocket 'H.

A switch unit meeting-these require- I 6 .1hesezareso fiiledrwithmercury 1'4 thatithmmer- :cury .protrudes slightlyiabove .theitopLfacezoteach pole, and will .hereinafter ;be .termed: as: mercury rpots. i upstanding -post 1B8-s0f .brass or. other suitable non-magnetic material is secured bysa screw .10 torthe center tof :the container floor.

Suspended .from the centercof the cover ii I is a ilscrew'li. IA barimagnet "12 .is freely mounted :at its 1 center for rotarymovement between the :top of .the rod 68-.and thefoot .ofathe: screw H, .such magnetbeing shorter than the .distancebetweenthepoles '62. A conductive wire 15 is :secured to the. top of the bar .magnet, and' is of such .lengthandsopositioned that its ends will contact the mercuryprotruding above the .mercuryapots as the magnet-swings and thus complete a circuit between thepoles. When such a unit is mounted hear aparkingzone with thepoles alined in such :adirection that the wire 15 bridges the-:mercury .pots I when the magnet assumes its: natural position, the attraction or repulsion of anautomobile thereafter-parked will swing the magnetoutof alinement with thepoles and open the switch. Thus the switch will be opened automatically re- .gardlessofthe polarity of the automobile. Preferably the container 60 is filled with kerosene-or some other liquid of similar viscosity, whichwill prevent oxidation .of the switch parts and will properly dampen the movement of .the bar magnet.

As illustrated diagrammatically in Figuresl to 3; such aswitch unit, designated by :89, .is placed in series'with the solenoid 54. Agroup of dr cell storage batteries 82 is connected by a lead to one of the switch poles and is groundedat 83 to-the meter housing byanother lead. The other switch pole is connected by a lead 84 to a terminal of the solenoid. It is desirable to use a condenser'8l in parallel with the switch to insurea surge of current through the switch when the latter is closed. Thegground lead-85 of the relay-branches into twoparallel ground circuits86 and 81. The first grounds through the vertical and horizontal plates/52 and 53, the dog, and through theplate member 40 into the meter frame when the dog is engaged with the notch 48. Such ground circuit is,iperforce, opened when the dog is withdrawn from the notch. The other ground circuit 8! includes'a floating type mercury switch 38 which is secured tothe flag 25 in such a manner that as long as time remains on the meter so that the flag is tiltedto one side. as in Fig. l, the mercury will .settle to the terminal end of the switch and complete the ground circuit to the meter frame. This second ground circuit has less resistance therein than the first through the dog so that the latter will only operate when there is no parking time remaining. Occasionally the ground circuit through the dog may are somewhat so that the purpose of the other ground-circuit 81 is to greatly reduce the number of times that the circuit is re- :quired to ground through the dog, namely, by eliminating those relatively numerous occasions when timeremains on the dial when the motorist drives from the parking zone.

In the Fig. 1 situation the car is parked, .the magnetic switch 80 being opened by the attraction thereof, a coin has been inserted to reset the meter, and a few minutes have since passed. it the :car. were to be moved themagnetic switeh would close completing a circuitthrough the relay and floating ground switch 88 so thatthe dog "WOllld be withdrawn from the notch and theplate member 40 would return the-hand to zero so that the: parts would be in Fig. 3 position wherein it is important to note that both ground circuits are open because the flag 20 is horizontal and the dog and notch are not in contact. Thus the batteries are not dissipated when the parking zone is not occupied.

In the Fig. 2 situation the motorists parking time has run out and he has attempted to use another coin to reset the meter. The hook bill will continue to obstruct the coins downward travel until the motorist drives his automobile away which will cause the magnetic switch 80 to close completing a circuit through the relay and the dog ground circuit whereupon the plate member il] will be released. When the hook bill is thence withdrawn from the coin-chute, the coin will drop and strike the pawl 3| as usual, permitting the aforedescribed hand-resetting mechanism to operate, whereupon the hand will be reset to {it and the notch will be again brought into engagement with the dog. However, the circuit will at that moment be completed through the relay and ground since the magnetic switch is still closed so that the dog again will be withdrawn by the relay from the notch and the plate memher and the hand will automatically return to the Fig. 3 position as before.

In Figures 6 and 7, I disclose an arrangement whereby the batteries 82 and condenser 8| can be housed at the base of the parking meter and yet be kept in a perfectly dry state. The numeral 99 represents a hollow upstanding standard to which the meter head is attached, the root end of the standard being embedded in concrete 2. A bell shaped housing 3| placed in a surrounding relationship to the base of the standard and with its neck slidably engaging the latter. The said neck is provided with a screw 53 for detachably holding the bell ti against the surface of the concrete 92. This arrangement of the standard and bell is conventional, the bell serving to assist in the stabilizing of the standard in its upright position.

The batteries 82 for supplying current to the solenoid are a small dry cell type. They are wired together in series and to the condenser after which the batteries and condenser are embedded in a horseshoe shaped body 95 molded of tar or other suitable material which is non-conductive, water-proof, and easily molded, thus forming a water-proof battery pack. The internal and external diameters of the pack are respectively defined by the outside diameter of the standard and the inside diameter of the bell so that the pack can be tted in the cavity between the standard and the bell. A ground lead to the pack is secured by a screw 94 to the bell. Another lead l7 connects the batteries to the magnetic switch unit. The return lead 84 from the said switch, after being joined by a lead 98 from the condenser, passes through an aperture in the standard whence it is carried up through the hollow standard to the solenoid.

To exchange batteries for a parking meter equipped with my device it is only necessary to loosen the screw, slide the bell up the standard until the battery pack is revealed, disconnect the leads, rep-lace the pack, reconnect the leads, lower the bell and retighten the screw.

The advantage of the invention will, it is thought, have been clearly understood from the foregoing detailed description of the embodiments which I have elected to illustrate. Minor changes in the details of construction will suggest themselves and may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention, wherefor it is my intention that no limitations be implied '8 and that the hereto annexed claims be given a scope fully commensurate with the broadest in terpretation to which the employed language admits.

What I claim, is:

1. In combination with a coin-operated parking meter related to a given parking zone and embodying a coin chute and time-indicating means reset by the passage of a coin along said chute for visually indicating a predetermined permissible parking time, and with the passage of time indicating the amount of the said parking period remaining, a normally closed magnetic switch opened by attraction or repulsion of a vehicle parked in the zone, means provided in the meter movable from a normally inactive position, and controlled by a coin-activated resetting of the time-indicating means, into an interruptive position in the travel path of a coin moving along said coin chute to prevent a resetting operation, locking means contained in an electric circuit including said magnetic switch for releasably locking the coin-interrupting means in its coin-interrupting position and caused to be unlocked by a closing of the switch, and means for moving said coin-interrupting m ans into its said inactive position when the locking means is unlocked.

2. In combination with a coin-operated parking meter related to a given parking zone and embodying atime scale and a pivotally mounted time-indicating pointer together with associated operating mechanism by which the pointer, under normal conditions, is given a setting at the top of the scale by the deposit of a coin in the coin chute of the meter and thereupon, with the passage of time, moves about its pivot toward a zero reading on the scale, a magnetic switch caused to be automatically opened when a vehicle occupies the parking zone and closed when the zone is vacant, an electric circuit including said switch, a pivotally mounted arm swingable from an inactive position into a coin-blocking position in the coin-chute, an activating lug for the arm carried by the pointer and functioning to push the arm into its coin-blocking position as the pointer takes a setting at the top of the scale, the arm serving in turn to push the pointer to a zero reading on the scale as the arm moves toward its inactive position, means yieldingly urging the arm into its said inactive position, lock means releasably locking the arm in its coin-blocking position, and electrically controlled means in said electric circuit for effecting said release of the lock means.

3. In combination with a coin-operated parking meter related to a given parking zone and embodying a coin chute and time-indicating means reset by the passage of a coin along said chute for visually indicating a predetermined permissible parking time, a normally closed switch caused to be opened by the parking of a vehicle in the zone, means provided in the meter movable from a normall inactive position, and controlled by a coin-activated resetting of the time-indicating means, into an interruptive position in the travel path of a coin moving along said coin chute to prevent a resetting operation, locking means contained in an electric circuit including said switch for releasably locking the coin-interrupting means in its coin-interrupting position and caused to be unlocked by a closing of the switch, and means for moving said coin-interrupting means into its said inactive position when the locking means is unlocked.

4. The structure of claim 3 wherein means are provided for opening said circuit automatically when said locking means is released.

5. In combination with a coin-operated parking meter related to a given parking zone and embodying a coin chute and time-indicating means reset by the passage of a coin along said chute for visually indicating a predetermined permissible parking time, a normally closed switch caused to be opened by the parking of a vehicle in the zone, means provided in the meter movable from a normally inactive position, and in response to a coin-activated resetting of the time-indicating means, into an interruptive position in the travel path of a coin moving along said coin chute to prevent a resetting operation, locking means contained in an electric circuit including said switch for releasably locking the coin-interrupting means in its coin-interrupting position and caused to be unlocked by a closing of the switch, means for moving said coin-interrupting means into its said inactive position when the locking means is unlocked, and means for moving said time-indicating means into a position indicating that no parking time remains in response to such an inactivation of the coin-interrupting means.

6. In a coin-operated parking meter, a timeindicating pointer and a coin-blocking arm pivotally mounted for swinging movement about a common axis, said pointer being provided with a lug arranged to engage the arm for moving the latter in concert with the pointer in one direction of travel and to be engaged by the arm for moving the pointer in concert with the arm in the reverse direction of travel, such lug permitting independent movement of the pointer in said reverse direction.

JOHN A. T. ELLISON.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 924,573 Patterson June 8, 1909 1,285,934 Carlson Nov. 26, 1918 1,289,637 Bruce Dec. 31, 1918 2,231,563 Castor Feb. 11, 1941 2,251,407 Johns Aug. 5, 1941 2,264,479 Munson Dec. 2, 1941 2,431,116 Grover Nov. 18, 1947 

